What Teams Need

A very weird season, and the days to call the season “early” are finished. Some teams are surprisingly hot, some are cold. What do they need?Anaheim Mighty Ducks

All this team needs to improve is a playmaker. Kariya needs a talented playmaker, that’s all. One talented play maker can help the team score more as well as improve Kariya’s play. They should think about trading Friesen, and receive a talented playmaker. Also, lockerroom needs to change, players are not getting along too well.

Atlanta Thrashers

How about, everything, or anything they can get? They’ve been impressive with the youngsters they brought up, but the defense and goaltending is slowing down the team’s progress to improve. Get a goalie and grab a solid defenseman. Also, trade Buzek, why keep him, and they must trade for a number one center.

Boston Bruins

Defense is not mobile enough. Offense is too streaky. They need to use Guerin smartly. Either trade him, or make him work his butt off because this team needs more scoring, especially on even strength. Where is Murray? Stumpel? Not doing enough, but doing what I expected them to do. How they’d love to have Allison back.

Buffalo Sabres

Offense…offense…offense, and….yes…offense. Satan (doesn’t he look like the devil? should be on the Devils!) can’t do everything on his own. Connolly= D- and Kozlov= F. These two should be the ones scoring yet…nada. Trade Gratton…why pay a 4th line center 2 millions a year? Defense looks good, goaltending has a very bright future. Change GM, all I’ve seen was this team go down in offense. They need offense.

Calgary Flames

Offense. Yes, believe it or not…this team needs offense. Sure, they have the leagueleader in goals, but one guy, one player? Conroy is putting up points, but…think about it. How strong is a line that only has one major goal scorer? Too unbalanced. Give a fast talented winger to Marc Savard, and goals will show up more with other names, not just Iginla. They need a back-up as well.

Carolina Hurricanes

Barrassh….hehe woops, I mean Barrasso took Irbe’s spot. Ouch. Anyway, this team lacks offense. I like their defense, great idea to bring Sean Hill back. Their offense is too limited. Kappanen shows up only when its time for Olympics, O’Neill should worry about himself instead of criticizing others, Francis is getting old (looking forward to buy his canned soup products; partnered with Ulf Sammuelsson and Wolfgang Puck), and Bind’Amour is still great for the team. But, thats it. Vasicek should show a lot more, as well as youngster Cole….so talented, doesn’t finish. Offense is needed, on any position but center should be it.

Chicago Blackhawks

Yeppeee whooraay for Daze and Zhamnov, booo for Sullivan and Amonte. I have a gut feeling Amonte will go soon. I cannot believe it, when I see this team score 4,5 goals in a game…all I see is (Amonte: 2 assists). Ok…annnnnnnd goals? Sullivan…I expected more, he better start scoring. This team needs Amonte’s goal scoring, or they need to trade Amonte and Nylander to get two forwards to score goals. Defense needs to be worked on, and they should trade for a back up goalie.

Colorado Avalanche

Someone tell me how the beat the Red Wings, and not only that, how did they score 4 goals? Offense is starting to show up, although things will change when Forsberg comes back. Defense looks solid, and Blake…Blake is Blake, what a steal along with Reinprecht. They need Forsberg back, that’s all.

Columbus Bluejackets

Don’t know how they managed to beat Brodeur 3 times, but their offense is terrible. Now that Sandersson is untradable, this team needs to look for some offense, especially soon. Denis looks basically ready, so how about trading Tightnutt, I mean Tugnutt!, for a forward who can net 20 g’s. Defense looks decent enough, offense is needed.

Dallas Stars

I can tell GM Gainey will resign after this season, this team has a very poor future. Youth is needed. Youth, chemistry, more leadership, and a better lockerroom atmosphere. Hitchcock is sucking his players’ confidence. Ok…..that didn’t sound too good. Anyway, this team needs to become a team. They can score, Turgeon where are you, and defense looks too slow. How about saying buh bye to D. Hatcher? They need a faster paced defense, more aggressivness, and chemistry.

Detroit Red Wings

Every team hits the slumps, I predicted the Wings would, never though this early though. Wings need to make some moves to get youth. Wings need one thing, and they need it badly. TOUGHNESS. Just not enough toughness, missing LaPointe? Red Wings should trade for an enforcer who scares players away, a big strong, possibly young, enforcer. A little help on the defense would be nice, but they need toughness and youth for the most part.

Edmonton Oilers

All they need, is another scorer. Reasoner is a disappointment, oh well…then trade him. Back up was going to be my first subject for this team, but Markennen looks solid as a back-up. So, the Oilers need one more scorer, that’s all.

Florida Panthers

This team has two options. They keep Bure, or don’t keep Bure, Pavel Bure that is. If they do, they need a playmaker…a top playmaker. They don’t want to keep Bure, then things are simpler. They need a better defense, a better back up, and an offense that is well balanced and can score. Huselius is the team’s future, P. BUre is out of the picture. Now that Keenan is coaching, this team willstart showing some good signs maybe, but by the time season is over…they will not want to see Keenan next year. This team needs an offense, a better organized defense, a back up, and a decision on P. Bure.

Los Angeles

Offense…offense offense offense! I wish I was old enough to understand hockey back in the mid 80’s to early 90’s. I miss offense. Deadmarsh is practically dead. Pallfy doesn’t have support. Allison is just starting to play real regular season hockey. Defense looks sloppy at times. How about getting rid of pot head Karlahati? How about a real goaltender? Potvin is just a streaky goalie and Storr is no more than a back up, hmmm give Fiset a shot? This team needs more offense, help on the defense, a real goaltender, and a true leader.

Minnesota Wild

Nice and simple. Needs a 2nd line, tighter defense, and they need to improve their even strength play. Suggestions… Well, get a true 2nd line center, and look for a responsible solid stay at home defenseman. However, this team is on the right path.

Montreal Canadiens

Again…..OFFENSE. Perrault is having a career year, Savage slowed down a bit, and Audette….poor Audette, what a steal it was to get him though. The Habs need to become like they used to be. They need more talented players. So, any help for the offense is great, look for them to trade Savage. They need to be tougher, hello….Souray? They’ve been playing well…but offense is always nice to have, and if that is hard to get…then get toughness….some nasty players.

Nashville Predators

They are slowly making their opponents become their prey. Offense improved this season, as well as defense, and goaltending. Delmore, what a steal. So, the Preds need someone to score goals, possibly a young goal scorer. If they can land a goal scorer, this team’s chances of making the playoffs are good.

New Jersey Devils

Guess what? OFFENSE. Ok, so…here we go. This team can’t score enough to win hockey games, their goaltender is losing 10 lbs a game, does he ever get a break, and the lockerroom is not what it used to be. Too many players are upset, like Elias with coach Robinson, and Holik with the team itself. This team needs something. In this case, GM Lou has to make a trade. No more “it’s still too early, it will take time”. As in, wait more and see the number of lost games increase? Nuh uh. Gomez is incapable of creating anything without a talented winger. Elias is starting to play like a 755,000$ player. Arnott….haven’t heard his name in a long time. I don’t think Robinson wants a 95 Devils style hockey again, and he is right…because it is just plaing boring and pathetic. This team needs a 35+ goal scorer, a back up who will play, and they need to start acting like a real team.

New York Islanders

More depth. So much for criticizing other teams (ie Rangers) about having just one major scoring line….ummm yeah, and the Isle’s? Yashin and Parrish were the only main scorers for the team, yet not a word was said. Thankfully, Czerkawski memorzed what scoring means, so now it makes three players, which is good. But, this team lacks a solid 3rd and 2nd line, both are incomplete, and they need toughness. You don’t want to expect your defensemen to show their toughness, you’d want your forwards to show it. The Isle’s need to get a mean player, toughness is need at neutral ice. Isle’s also need to improve their even strength game.

New York Rangers

Nothing, this team is perfect. Heheh, just joking. Rangers need defense, and a true 2nd line. They have a good 4th and 3rd line, a great 1st line, a very good 1st defensive pair, two “above average” goalies, but the 2nd line and the rest of the defense is killing them. I noticed something however. When the Rangers were hot in November, they were mean, aggressive, and tough. They won like that, but since they’ve been handed out suspensions, and too many penalties against them, they must “watch out” now, and since then…things are going not so well. Rangers might be in a normal slump as the Wings and Flames are, highly doubt it. Nedved is trying, he is trying and he shows he is trying, he is starting to score goals. Dvorak is the main problem. He is playing with a very bad knee, which affects his speed yet he still looks so fast. But, Dvorak has to score, he must get his game back. If Nedved and Dvorak can start what they had last season, the Rangers are much better off. *Reminder; last season’s Czech-line had a bad 1st half, great 2nd half of season) Defense is still a problem. Malakhov and Leetch are playing really well, but the others are inconsistent. Ulanov showed some good signs, makes an awesome play…his next shift…he makes a bad play. Berard is worrying about scoring his 1st goal. Kloucek needs a break from the ice, or penalty box, and the others just look sloppy at times, but at times they look good. Too inconsistent, and it will kill the Rangers like last season. Rangers need something with the defense, and Dvorak to step up. If that doesn’t happen, then a trade will happen soon.

Ottowa Senators

They start slow, and then they end up winning the game. I don’t know what this team needs. They have offense, solid defense and goaltending, so I guess they don’t need much. The only thing they should be planning for is to have a good number one center.

Philadelphia FLyers

Once again, OFFENSE. I think this team needs to smell Philly’s cleanest air *cough cough* and start scoring goals. Or how about ringing that Liberty Bell? Goaltending is good, defense is good, offense is….not pathetic, but very disappointing. If either Roenick or Primeau start scoring goals, and I mean goalS, then the Flyers are fine…they will start having great winning streaks. Defense looks numb sometimes, but they are preventing goals, so the offense should be mostly concentrated on. Should they get Guerin? I’m going to say this nice and clear. Guerin is a Flyer. Plays like one, acts line one, and should be on that team. Get some offense, or give more time to the current offense…but time is running out.

Phoenix Coyotes

This team still surprises me. They need a lot of offense, I mean a lot. The Coyotes need a 25-30 goal scorer. Goaltending shouldn’t be an issue, defense looks solid, but the offense needs to be worked on by the GM.

Pittsburgh

I’m getting tired of saying it. Offense. A team that was all committed to offense, is now all committed to defense. Ok, yes injuries with Lemieux and Straka are a big part of that, but what about when both of those players were there? Jagr is unreplacable, but Kovalev needs to start scoring, and Hrdina, and…and that’s about it. They need help on the offense, so they will probably wait for Mario to come back, but help is still needed.

San Jose

Here is something new, this team needs offense! Not enough offense provided by Nolan, Selanne, and Marleau. Defense looks pretty solid, goaltenidng is solid, offense is just below average. Damphousse is a great playmaker, but why aren’t the other guys scoring? There needs to be offense for this team, goals are very important, especially if Selanne scores them.

St. Louis Blues

Help on defense, a true experienced veteran goaltender, a give me a break…i don’t even know how this team needs this, offense. Weight is not doing anything, Tkachuk scores once in a while, same with Demitra…I mean…what is going on. Pronger is having a terrible season, as of now, but what about the other defensemen, besides MacInnis. Blues must trade for a goalie, they must get some help on the defense, and they need a wake up call or a change for the offense.

Tampa Bay

Offense. That is basically it, amazing…the Lightning mostly need offense. Khabibulin was a steal, defense looks very decent, and the offense is just the major weakness, followed by toughness. Lecavalier is not clicking this season, and neither is Modin. This team will find a way, and they should look to draft a big time scorer next summer, this team has a bright future now.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Besides their weird style of play, this team seems balanced. Great goaltender, good defense, very good fore-checking, and scoring is just “ok”. This team mostly lacks a complete chemistry line where all three forwards score goals, Mogilny should be a part of that. One thing the Leafs should only worry about is youth and Cujo.

Vancouver Canucks

You know it, offense, but also goaltending. Cloutier has been good, but how long can he last? Offense seems to go up and down, and defense as well. They need more consistency for both categories. But, they especially need a real number one center.

Washington Capitals

If the Caps did not have the powerplay advantages, they would be down in the pits. They have the offense, they have the defense, and goaltending, as well as toughness, but they lack consistency. Also, this team needs number one center who is a good playmaker, and obviously…he must be younger than Oates.

Now, what I need is some sleep. I will accept any comments and would be more than willing to discuss about them.